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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
NEA report calls for more accurate data on SNF heat decay
The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency has issued a report calling for more-detailed information on tracking the decay heat of spent nuclear fuel from light water reactors. According to the NEA, the report highlights the increasing importance of accurate decay heat estimations due to evolving fuel characteristics, including higher initial fuel enrichment, increased burn-up rates, and extended reactor cycle lengths.
The report, Summary of the NEA Assessment on Spent Nuclear Fuel Decay Heat for Light Water Reactors, summarizes the findings of a subgroup of the NEA’s Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS), which ran from January 2022 to January 2024.
J. M. Carmona, K. J. McCarthy, V. Tribaldos, R. Balbín
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 54 | Number 4 | November 2008 | Pages 962-969
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST08-A1911
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
First impurity ion temperature profiles obtained using an active diagnostic system, recently installed on the TJ-II stellarator, are presented. This diagnostic consists of a multichannel spectrometer and a compact diagnostic neutral beam injector system optimized for performing charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy. Here, after summarizing the experimental setup, details of the system alignment and calibration, as well as the data analysis method adopted, are presented. Next, impurity ion temperature profiles, determined from C VI emission line widths (at 529.06 nm), are presented for a range of plasma conditions (different densities plus two injected electron cyclotron resonance heating powers) in order to highlight the system capabilities. Then, the comportment of core impurity ion temperature for an electron density scan (4 × 1018 to 9 × 1018 m-3) is examined. It reveals a clear minimum between <ne> = 6 × 1018 and 8 × 1018 m-3 that coincides with the values for the transition from the electron-to-ion root of the radial electric field. Finally, these results are compared with ion temperatures determined by passive methods to evaluate the system performance, and the physics behind the observed impurity ion temperature behavior is examined.
